Journal of Interpretation Research
The Journal of Interpretation Research links research to practice in the fields of interpretation, informal and non-formal education, and communication primarily in leisure, tourism, and community settings, including parks, zoos, aquariums, museums, nature centers, botanical gardens, historical and cultural sites, among others. The Journal disseminates original empirical research relevant to interpretation and provides a forum for scholarly discourse about issues facing the profession and practice of interpretation. Interpretation can include exhibits, signage, oral presentations, guided tours, reenactments, digital communications, and other media and experiences intended to communicate about natural, cultural, and historical resources and processes to diverse audiences.
The Journal of Interpretation Research is published by the National Association for Interpretation, the preeminent professional association representing the heritage interpretation profession. It publishes manuscripts from a wide range of academic disciplines with the core aim of adding to the current state-of-knowledge for practitioners, researchers, academics, and/or administrators who work in the field of interpretation.
Keywords: docents, guiding, non-formal education, interpretation, museum education, tourism, leisure, zoos, museums, aquariums, heritage interpretation, visitor studies
| Robert B. Powell | Clemson University, USA |
| Marc J. Stern | Virginia Tech, USA |
| Theresa Coble | University of Missouri - St. Louis, USA |
| Jim Covel | Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA |
| Sam Ham | University of Idaho, USA |
| Carolyn Ward | Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Asheville, NC, USA |
| Betty Weiler | Southern Cross University, Australia |
| Robert Bixler | Clemson University, USA |
| Rosemary Black | Charles Sturt University, Australia |
| Julie Ernst | University of Minnesota Duluth, USA |
| Myron F. Floyd | North Carolina State University, USA |
| Jon Kohl | PUP Global Heritage Consortium, Costa Rica |
| Brenda Lackey | University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, USA |
| Luisa Massarani | Brazilian Institute of Public Communication of Science and Technology, Brazil |
| Mark Morgan | University of Missouri, Columbia, USA |
| Wayde Morse | Auburn University, USA |
| Jeff Skibins | East Carolina University, USA |
| Dave Smaldone | West Virginia University, USA |
| Martin Storksdieck | Oregon State University, USA |
| Derrick Taff | The Pennsylvania State University, USA |
| Gail Vander Stoep | Michigan State University, USA |
| John A. Veverka | Veverka & Associates; The Heritage Interpretation Training Center, USA |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Journal of Interpretation Research
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
Please read the guidelines below then visit Journal of Interpretation Research’s submission site [https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jinterpresearch] to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.
Sage disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Journal of Interpretation Research will be reviewed.
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal of Interpretation Research and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Journal of Interpretation Research will consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper to a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in Journal of Interpretation Research. If your paper is accepted, you will need to contact the preprint server to ensure the final published article link is attached to your preprint. Learn more about our preprint policy here.
If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.5 Research ethics and patient consent
2.6 Research data - Publishing policies
31 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Identifiable information
4.4 Supplemental material
4.5 Reference style
4.6 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 SAGE Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Before submitting your manuscript to Journal of Interpretation Research, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope below.
The Journal of Interpretation Research communicates original empirical research relevant to the field of interpretation. The Journal of Interpretation Research communicates original empirical research relevant to the field of interpretation. It also provides a forum for scholarly discourse about issues facing the profession of interpretation. As the official journal of the National Association for Interpretation, the preeminent professional association representing the heritage interpretation profession, published articles link research with practice. The Journal of Interpretation Research takes a broad view of the field of interpretation and publishes manuscripts from a wide-range of academic disciplines. The primary criteria for deeming a manuscript appropriate for the Journal are whether the manuscript: (1) adds to the current state-of-knowledge for practitioners, researchers, academics, or administrators who work in the field of interpretation; (2) presents clearly articulated arguments or practical lessons; and, in the case of research articles, (3) clearly communicates the details and relevance of high-quality empirical research studies.
All research manuscripts are first reviewed by the editors-in-chief for an initial assessment of their suitability for potential publication in the Journal. Following the initial review, suitable manuscripts are then reviewed anonymously by an associate editor and by at least two other reviewers. Based on the nature of the manuscript, special efforts are made to identify well-qualified associate editors and reviewers to evaluate the manuscripts. From the recommendations of the associate editor, the editors make the final decision of the manuscript’s disposition and communicate this information to the author.
The Journal accepts submissions for the following types of manuscripts:
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Research manuscripts report on empirical research studies relevant to the field of interpretation. All research manuscripts must contain a section with the heading, “Implications for Practice.” This section must describe practical applications based on the research findings. These applications should be written plainly for general non-academic audiences. The word limit for full-length research manuscripts is 7,500 (excluding tables and figures). The editors may consider longer manuscripts on an individual basis.
All research manuscripts are first reviewed by the editors-in-chief for an initial assessment of their suitability for potential publication in the Journal. Following the initial review, suitable manuscripts are then reviewed anonymously by an associate editor and by at least two other reviewers. Based on the nature of the manuscript, special efforts are made to identify well-qualified associate editors and reviewers to evaluate the manuscripts. From the recommendations of the associate editor, the editors make the final decision of the manuscript’s disposition and communicate this information to the author.
IN SHORT: REPORTS AND REVIEWS
In short articles provide an outlet for summaries of research studies with limited scope. Interpretation research often consists of small “in-house” program evaluations and basic visitor studies. The purpose of this section is to communicate current research activities, allow readers to identify colleagues with similar interests, and provide practitioners and administrators with useful information and direction for conducting their own mini-research projects. Submissions for the “In Short: Reports and Reviews” section should be limited to 2,000 words and will be reviewed by the editors and two associate editors. The editors may consider longer manuscripts on an individual basis.
IN MY OPINION
The “In My Opinion” section of the Journal encourages the development of the profession and the practice of interpretation by fostering discussion and debate. Within this section, the Journal publishes thought pieces that exhibit excellence and offer original or relevant philosophical discourse on the state of interpretation. Submissions for the “In My Opinion” section should be limited to 1,200 words and will be reviewed by the editors and two associate editors. The editors may consider longer manuscripts on an individual basis.
BOOK REVIEWS
Book reviews should provide brief summaries of books that are relevant to the field of interpretation along with meaningful commentary that provides readers with guidance on the practical value of the reviewed book. Book reviews should be limited to 1,000 word in length. Book review are reviewed by the editors and two associate editors.
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance your article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication.
Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:
- The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors.
- The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper.
- The author has recommended the reviewer.
- The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).
The journal’s policy is to have manuscripts reviewed by two expert reviewers. Journal of Interpretation Research utilizes a double-anonymized peer review process in which the reviewer and authors’ names and information are withheld from the other. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the Editor who then makes the final decision.
The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in Journal of Interpretation Research. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.
Special issue manuscripts are sent to Guest Editors upon submission to ensure they meet the scope of the special issue. The rest of the peer review process will be handled by Journal of Interpretation Research's internal editorial team. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the Editor who then makes the final decision.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.
Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your paper.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
2.3.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.
2.4 Declaration of conflicting interests
Journal of Interpretation Research encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.
2.5 Research ethics and patient consent
Information on the appropriate treatment of human subjects, including informed consent and/or human subjects review by an institutional review board, should be included within the manuscript.
Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.
Journal of Interpretation Research is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- Include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, use the statement to confirm why it cannot be shared.
- Cite this data in your research
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Journal of Interpretation Research and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of Journal of Interpretation Research against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive license agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and license to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway.
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Journal of Interpretation Research offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice program and Read and Publish agreements, where authors at participating institutions can publish open access with fees paid by the institution. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
- All parts of the manuscript, including title page, abstract, tables, and legends, should be formatted in 12-point font in Microsoft Word with one-inch margins and 8.5” x 11” pages.
- Manuscript pages should be numbered consecutively in the top right corner.
- All papers must be submitted in English.
- On the title page include full names of authors, academic, and/or other professional affiliations, and complete contact information (email, phone, address) of the corresponding author.
- Authors must supply five to 10 key words or phrases that identify the most important subjects covered by the paper.
- Each paper should be summarized in an abstract of no more than 150 words. The abstract will preface the paper and should be a comprehensive summary of the paper’s content, including the purpose or problem, methods, findings, and implications or applications. It should enable the reader to determine exactly what the paper is about and make an informed decision about whether to read the entire paper. Abbreviations and references to the text should be avoided.
- References should follow the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style. See also recent articles for examples.
- All figures must be discussed in the text and numbered in order of mention. Each figure must be submitted as a separate print-ready file with a complete caption (e.g., “Figure 1. Explanation of the figure”).
- All tables should follow APA standards and must be discussed in the text and numbered in order of mention. Each table should have a brief descriptive title (e.g., Table 1. Descriptive caption describing what the table shows). Do not include explanatory material in the title: use footnotes keyed to the table with superscript lowercase letters. Place all footnotes to a table at the end of the table. Define all data in the column heads. Every table should be fully understandable without reference to the text. Include all tables on separate pages; do not include them within the text.
- If any figure, table, or more than a few lines of text from a previously published work are included in a manuscript, the author must obtain written permission for publication from the copyright holder and forward a copy to publisher.
- As all manuscripts will be reviewed anonymously, the name(s) of the author(s) should only appear on the title page. Any self-citations that would reveal the identity of the authors should be removed. Other self-citations need not be removed.
- All full-length research manuscripts should include a section with the heading “Implications for Practice.” This section should explicitly translate research findings into meaningful lessons for practitioners in the field.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.
Figures supplied in color will appear in color online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in color in the printed version. For specifically requested color reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
4.3 Identifiable information
To facilitate double-anonymized peer review, authors are required to submit:
- A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
- A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymized material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.
See https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/Manuscript-preparation-for-double-anonymized-journal for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.
This Journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.
Journal of Interpretation Research adheres to the APA reference style. View the APA guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.
4.6 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit Journal of Interpretation Research’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Journal of Interpretation Research is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit [https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jinterpresearch] to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for Journal of Interpretation Research in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this Journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to Journal of Interpretation Research of Interpretation Research editorial office as follows:
Marc J. Stern, Ph. D.
Professor
Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation
Mail code: 0324 304
Cheatham Hall
310 West Campus Drive
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA 24061
mjstern@vt.edu
540-231-7418
Robert B. Powell, Ph.D.
George B. Hartzog, Jr. Endowed Professor and Director of the Institute for Parks
Department of Parks, Recreation, & Tourism Management
283 Lehotsky Hall
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29631
rbp@clemson.edu
864-784-7974
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.
If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.